another one by nekrasov

Well

kind of, sort of

thank God

a lea

alongside the water

and the white heads of Vologda

kind of like

there there they are

you

white heads of Vologda

head

in the water

head

in the sky

foot in shit

a run-in where run-ins ran long
or were run from runs an arduous course
on a brief runway

***

the wigwam wove of the winner's hair
is only a domed wig, no home

The guys in the black coats, and the ones in
white coats, and the ones in gray jumpsuits
arrived with clipboards and
hardhats (trailing the brown blazers with
clip-on briefcases and soft hats)

and guess what, they diminished
the damage assessment, pulled back the rescue/
containment efforts on their gargantuan spools,
generally repackaged the whole thing, ingeniously
effecting the dimunition with minimal resources--
just the words around the words, fused effortlessly to
new symbols, etched in the air like wire halos

Then the men in the white jumpsuits
grew up from under the halos, radiating
delicious virtue, oh yes, oh yum, here they
are, here they come, and here comes
ice cream!!!

Poem to God

Don't just ring me up, my hands
are a mound of glittering
entrails, lemon leaf

Leman, if you find me out,
I'll punch every bird out your
every branch, heaven

Me and Matt Tracey, Ditch Traction

we were goofing around last night and ditched this

b: i squeeze all the sunspots

between the shadowfingers

of ravensweed thinking of you

m: of stalks, i trust their fringes

a binge of cornhol for this pit

stomaching away from you sweet

the 'chine i ride, nearing the grapehol

unto slopes and squirrels.

and there is a vine,

and is there an experimental fruit hiding with us

b: how do you map the trail?

do you follow footpaths or the smell of entrails?

m: we stepped over tooths

some hush and tear'd,

maps over eyes and cans on ears

b: what do you do when the hunter

harkens near with his red rattle?

I'm rustling with fear, my follicles thrust

helpless up like antennae entreating beetle

m: our embrace was a hiding place,

the stone in the grape made us opaque.

the hunter interloping let us be translucent

b: our kiss sent us shimmering wet

in the mushroom gills with the thrill of the guillotine,

while some ravens made slits in the silence, we wouldn't slip

m: a slip, a hose hiccuping gasoline

like the spirit of a horse dead in the creek, livening

b: neighing, "skip this page, choose an adventure

that doesn't lurch you in the grippe ditch"

m: another repair- cylinders, steam,

and tar on the thoroughfare--

the grip of wishful thoughts

tear us and dump us in ashy sunspots

b: in granite, we run our bare feet

on ragged, waiting for our wishes

to be squeezed out on the steel

m: I recall getting held in the palm of a ditch,

a threatening flashlight brought to whimper

by my own sleepy drunk,

as here we cradle in this stranger's box

b: where is threat? it trickles out of a hose

like a gardener snake in weak light.

where is regret? at the feet of the interloper,

the inferior sea crowned by three in a bathtub, hahaha

fire fire fire

I hope my fire isn't out. Here's a bird poem about birds.



Lurid in blue, but following suit of
some suitor who glued me to
the plumes

of a suitor who vocalized low
in a harsh vibrato, who

was only blue bird of paradise blue.

'Bird of paradise' is 'bird of god' crudely lyricized,
far-flung family named by a dumb lover pulling a color:

Sur taxonomy cum hybrid bride blue,
tautadelusion cum azure mantra, blue

Vishna hung in the Virgin Mary's robes blue,
lewd blue, vulgar but true, only


NADIA replies:

here is monsieur crepuscule, dumb plover

elegant as a crane with his reedy legs

and his blue wings tucked back, perfect

conduct and under neat the lapsed

egg, ovoid missing cluster of others

faint blue to blend in with some bird's

idea of subtlety, eternity, or horizonless

water, every waterbird's cool wish

when dusk dims the distinction

between water, wind, water, and

gusting air, the fat sails, or in doldrums

the gut strings, plucked.

dumb lover, some august plover,

luridly drowned in the ding-donging deep.